Tesla, the maker of the $100K fully electric car is supposedly contemplating introducing a sub $30K electric car in the US. The current model priced at over $100K is more of a “statement” car rather than a car that makes economic sense. It’s customers are mainly hollywood actors, business owners and others who want to make a public statement.

The sub $30K Tesla will definitely be more affordable to the masses. But it’s going to be a long wait before you can get your hands on one. According to some sources, Tesla has no plans to introduce this car until 2016. Tesla needs that much time to increase it’s production efficiency and reduce it’s costs.

General Motor’s announced today that it’s electric car, the Chevrolet Volt will get an amazing 230 miles per gallon in the city under the new EPA guidelines. This is truly an amazing claim by GM and hopefully it will live up to this expectation. If you are salivating at the idea of savings loads and loads of money on gas by buying the Chevy Volt, think again. The Volt will be priced at around $40,000 which makes the price differential over Toyota Prius huge. Therefore, this is not a car that you will be buying to save on gas, rather to make a “Green” statement just like with Tesla. The Cheverol Volt is expected to launch in 2010 in the US.

As you all know by now, the “Cash for Clunkers or “CARS - Car Allowance Rebate Program” came really close to running out of money until the government infused an additional $2B into the program. The program is expected to run through November 1st, 2009 or until the funds run out. Your car has to be less than 25 years old and must give less than 18 mpg. Your clunker must be drivable, have been continously insured for at least one year to date and must have maintained continous insurance for the past one year.

To prevent scams, the program has a list of pre-approvved scrappers who will take your gas guzzler and disable the engine. The engine has to be disabled using a specific technique which involves adding a sodium silicate solution in place of engine oil and running the engine at 2300 rpm until it locks up. Prior to scrapping your car, you will get an estimate of how much money you will get for your clunker, up to a maximum of $4,500.

Also, once the car has been scrapped and you get your voucher, you have to take it to a approved dealer and purchase from a list of approved cars. There is a limit of $45K on the suggested retail price of the car you purchase.

The car you purchase has to give a combined mileage of 22 mpg or in the case of light trucks, a combined mileage of 18 mpg. The program has been very successful in the initial run which is enticing car manufacturers to tack on other incentives. Chrysler is trying to corner those whose cars don’t qualify for the rebate program by announcing a program offering the same $4,500 trade-in or a 0% APR financing for 72 months.

Though the program is very enticing, you must do your own analysis of whether it is worth commiting to purchasing a new car that will cost thousands more even after the rebate or just trade in your car for another used car that is newer than the clunker.

For more information, visit CARS.gov

A recent study reports that contrary to popular belief, hybrid car owners are more risky to insure than conventional car drivers. Most auto insurance companies offer discounts to hybrid car owners today. But could that be changing soon based on this study?

The study claims that Toyota Prius owners get just as many traffic tickets as conventional car owners. Also, it is about 13% more expensive to repair hybrid cars when they get into accidents. Toyota Highlander hybrid and Ford Escape hybrid were named in the report as the most expensive cars to repair for collisions.

Hybrid car owners also tend to drive more than conventional car owners beyond just commuting back and forth from work. How much more? About 25% more which adds up to a lot of driven miles, almost 10,500 miles.

Also, the profile of hybrid car owners is typically affluent women, living in cities which might explain the number of traffic tickets.

And what about the ecological benefits of driving a hybrid? With all the extra driving that hybrid car owners engage in, the ecological benefits may actually be negated.

Based on all this, it definitely seems possible that insurance companies could be giving serious thought to insurance policy pricing for hybrid car owners.

The Mercedes S 400 was launched as a hybrid version of the S-class luxury sedan in late June. The car will be initially available only in Europe and will launch in North America towards September 2009. The new Mercedes Benz BlueHYBRID S 400 comes with a 275 hp, 3.5 liter v6 engine, 7 speed automatic transmission and a high voltage lithium ion battery pack to drive the 15kw electric motor. The car also has a regular automobile battery for the other electronics such as CD player, seat power, etc. Though the car is a full size sedan, it gets around 30 mpg. The car goes from 0 to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds. The hybrid premium is expected to be around $14,000 to $17,000 over the standard version. When launched in the US, the car is expected to be priced around $88,000.

Watch this video: (in German)